ANNEALING EFFECT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF KESTERITE STRUCTURE IN COPPER-ZINC-TIN SULFIDE (CZTS) THIN FILM
Abstract
Copper-zinc-tin sulfide (Cu2ZnSnS4 or CZTS) is a p-type semiconductor material with a high absorption coefficient and an optimal energy band gap. It belongs to a quaternary semiconducting group of I2-II-IV-VI4. Economically and eco-friendly CZTS material is a good absorber layer for solar cells. In this study, CZTS thin films were coated on soda-lime silicate glass (SLSG) using the sol-gel dip-coating method at room temperature. CZTS thin films were annealed in an ambient atmosphere in an oven. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to analyze structural properties, while optical properties were studied by UV-visible spectroscopy (UV–vis) and photoluminescence (PL). Elemental composition was determined by using energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX). Density functional theory calculations were performed using the HSE06 hybrid method, with the theoretical band gap closely matching the experimental value with a 9% difference. The XRD results indicated that annealing the thin films in an ambient atmosphere at high temperatures led to oxidation and deterioration of the kesterite CZTS form. The optical analysis shows that the energy band gap of the CZTS thin films (1.63 eV) matched the literature.
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References
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